Top 10 #2's

One of the things we'd like to run soon is a piece that expresses the consensus of the hive mind on essential living room entertainment devices. With this in mind, we came up with the idea of doing a list of the Top 10 non-core devices that people have in their home entertainment systems aside from a DVR (with the DVR being the obvious #1 thing that everyone has now... and by "non-core" I mean, excluding the basic components that let you get picture and sound, so a receiver, TV, and speakers aren't on the list).

So the ultimate plan is to put together a list of devices--apart from TV, receiver, speakers, cable box, and DVR--that Ars people have in their entertainment centers. Then we'll look at how many people have the different devices, and come up with a Top 10 list. This will happen in two phases:

PHASE 1: Nominations

I've made a database page open to everyone, so that you guys can jump in and add your components. If your component is already listed, then you don't have to do anything:

I dunno.. I think the list looks pretty good so far. It's better if there's more variety in it. And like I said above, we can always remove stuff, so it's better to add as much as possible and then delete later.

I would almost think a BD/DVD disc player would be more ubiquitous than a DVR - I've seen plenty of non-network TV watchers post here, who have no use for a DVR (I'm among them), yet disc players seem almost universal. Wouldn't be surprised if there are those who own a PS3, and no games, just for Blu-ray.

Me too, an AsRock ION330HT xbmc HTPC. It could/should probably be rolled into a generic 'SFF HTPC with XBMC' item or similar. That device produces most of the media playback capabilities I am interested in. Other than that, I have an xbox 360 for games and a directv sat decoder box, and that is it.

Do you want only stuff that's actually IN the entertainment center, or is stuff that's elsewhere in the house but accessed over the network also ok? (ie I access video files from my PC and my WHS in the home office via the 360 that's attached to the TV)

Like many of you, apparently, I don't use physical media anymore. A WDTV Live (formerly a FW hacked WDTV) serves to dish out all the TV/Video/Music I want. The backend is a Synology NAS with full DLNA functions. Not a necessity, but I also have a netbook in the living room, mostly used to look up IMDB trivia or Episode guides for whatever TV show I'm currently chewing through.

Is a receiver and speakers that common? I suspect many of us are just using whatever speakers are built into the TV, and a pc or ipod dock for music.

Eww! TV Speakers and ipod docks? You actually made me shudder. The people that would spend the money on a huge hi def TV and not get something better then the built in speakers blow my mind. Maybe they just don't know what their missing? I have to hope so or otherwise they are insane.

No DVR here either though I had a couple chances recently to get one with DirecTV setup and everything. I just don't really want to bother, not to mention the additional fees for the service. TV is just so much crap these days that I can get the few shows I am interested in from netflix, torrents, hulu or other so much easier than having a device that has to watch TV for me and then deal with skipping (or not being able to skip) commercials, time and schedule changes and mistakes, bad reception, etc.etc.etc...

It sounds like early adopters here are ditching the DVR in droves, which is kind of an interesting trend in itself. I wonder when the momentum for bailing on it really began to build. 2009? Or was it earlier?

I had a Tivo until about mid-2008. At that point, I cancelled my cable, and relied entirely on the Internets to provide entertainment. I still have the Tivo, but it's sitting in my basement, unused and unloved.

Maybe they just don't know what their missing? I have to hope so or otherwise they are insane.

There's a third option (actually, several other options too), which is that they just don't care. We have a surround sound system with our TV, but we only got it because it was on crazy sale. Surround doesn't add much to movies, and is completely useless for TV.

We don't have a DVR, or HTPC/streaming box because most of what we watch is the news, or a couple channels which are mostly repeats. Besides, TV is not that important that it needs to be recorded.

Maybe they just don't know what their missing? I have to hope so or otherwise they are insane.

There's a third option (actually, several other options too), which is that they just don't care. We have a surround sound system with our TV, but we only got it because it was on crazy sale. Surround doesn't add much to movies, and is completely useless for TV.

We don't have a DVR, or HTPC/streaming box because most of what we watch is the news, or a couple channels which are mostly repeats. Besides, TV is not that important that it needs to be recorded.

Nope nothing to do with surround, I don't give a crap about that, I'm talking about using an actual receiver and speakers for you sound, Built in TV speakers are horrible. And listening to music though an ipod dock is the same. I was appalled at just how bad they are when I was using them on a new set my friend bought recently. The fact that people care about HDTV to the point of spending thousands of dollars and spending weeks researching the best set for the money, but can't blow a couple hundred on even the most low end of receiver and speakers is crazy.

We have a surround sound system with our TV, but we only got it because it was on crazy sale. Surround doesn't add much to movies, and is completely useless for TV.

Speak for yourself TV movies have been broadcast in Dolby Prologic for years; I thought DD was also common on cable channels too?

Quote:

TV is not that important that it needs to be recorded.

Speaking for yourself again, I presume? Personally, since we got our Sky box that has DVR functionality, we've increased our viewing because we no longer simply 'miss' what we'd like to see. DVRs actually make viewing convenient. Of course, internet streaming is just as/even more convenient...

Since none of you dirtbags thought of doing it , I added "HTPC". It would be best to roll all the SFF PCs, laptops, full towers, DLNA server PCs, media servers, and what have you into the overall category of "HTPC" to prevent death by poll fragmentation.

After seeing a lot of DVR bashing in here, I'm feeling like an indulgent ass for having one! While I'm certainly an early adopter, I try to find the cheapest way to achieve maximum potential TV... I can get all the quick and dirty stuff (currently aired shows, NFL, etc) on my HD DVR that comes with my sat. package. Then I have a networked Blu-Ray and Wii on my two theater setups (as well as on my iPad) that can access my $11/mo. Netflix, . What I can't get on their limited (but growing) catalogue of online content, I order to be sent to me in 2 days (which requires a measure of delayed gratification, which I keep telling my kids is a good thing). I've been tempted by the Apple TV in the past, but would spend WAY more with their a la carte system each month than I am now. Am I missing a better way, here?